Sunday Food Prep: Blueberry, Lemon and Mint Tea

This week is going to be delicious!

This morning, while my brunch (parsnips, sweet potatoes and carrots roasted with bacon and topped with a fried egg and some avocado and hot sauce #sogood) roasted away in the oven, I tackled all of my weekly food prep. Today’s prep included hard-boiling eggs, chopping veggies for roasting (carrots, sweet-potatoes and butternut squash), cutting up an entire watermelon, making a big salad with lots of bell peppers, and making a pitcher of blueberry, lemon and mint tea (recipe below!)… For whatever reason, all of these tasks feel easy on Sunday mornings and so so daunting when I get home late from work on Tuesday nights. Anyone else know this struggle??

Food prep also involved organizing the fridge to make sure that healthy foods are in sight and easily accessible. Here is the end result:

Strategic Fridge Moves: When I open the fridge, I want to be visually triggered to eat healthy things, and there should be lots of healthy options that are easy to grab, so I put the food I need to eat in the most visible and accessible locations.

This week, I decided to make a batch of Blueberry, Lemon and Mint tea that will be great for taking on the road in the morning. This recipe takes 10 minutes or less to come together and will make your mornings 25% more joyful!

Blueberry, Lemon and Mint Tea

Ingredients:

• 8 cups of hot water (straight from the tap is fine) plus 1/2 a cup for the blueberry mixture
• 3 large cold brew iced tea bags (you can swap out hot brew bags, but just follow the directions on the package)
• 1 quart of blueberries
• 1/3 cup of lemon juice
• 6-8 large mint leaves, roughly chopped
• Ice
• Optional garnish: lemon wedges or more mint sprigs
• Optional sweetener: honey (personally, I find the berries sweet enough, but taste it and adjust to your preferences!)

Directions:

Follow directions to steep tea as usual (for me, this meant steeping three large tea bags in 8 cups of hot water for about 5 minutes, but may be different depending on your tea brand). While tea steeps, heat blueberries, lemon juice, mint leaves and 1/2 a cup of water over high heat in a medium sauce pan. Allow the mixture to simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and either:

• Blend the mixture in a blender until very smooth, and then pour the whole thing straight into your tea. This option gives you the benefit of all the nutrients in the berries, but will make your tea a bit thicker.
• Use a mesh sieve to strain the juice from mixture (use a spoon to get as much juice as possible out), then pour the juice into your tea and discard the solids.

Stir your tea, taste it and add honey or another sweetener if desired. Serve over ice and garnish with sprigs of mint or a lemon wedge.